Credit Card Offers

I recently came across two really big—no, make that gargantuan—CARD Act loopholes that no one has made much of a fuss about.

A few weeks ago, I was doing a little “light” reading on Helpwithmybank.gov, which is associated with the Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks (OCC), and read a Q&A that made me stop in my tracks. It was about what happens when you receive a notice that your credit card’s interest rate (also known as the APR) is going to increase in 45 days.

The question: Can I continue making purchases with my card at the existing rate for 45 days?

The response on Helpwithmybank.gov: “After 14 days, the new rate will apply to further transactions. At the end

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Today’s top news headlines feature the results of a new survey that shows Americans are satisfied overall with their standard of living and reasons low-income families rely on alternative banking services. Plus, find out why many job applicants disapprove of group interviews.

Group Interviews Unattractive To Job Applicants Fortune Many companies are setting up group interviews for positions that involve team-oriented work, a trend that has not been well received by job applicants. Hiring managers say the practice allows them to save time and determine which applicants are well-suited to work in groups under high levels of stress. H

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Banks repossessed $304 billion worth of homes in 2010, and they’re just getting started. Equifax, a national credit bureau, sees no end in sight to a housing recession that’s already dragged on for more than four years, according to the company’s latest housing study.

“Until these foreclosures are processed, the mortgage market will continue to impact economic growth,” Craig Crabtree, senior VP of Equifax Mortgage Services, said in a press release.

Repossessions just continue to rise. Banks repossessed mortgages worth $126.7 billion in 2006 and 2007 combined, Equifax reported. Soon afte

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Americans could use a bit more discipline when it comes to saving money for their long-term goals, especially with all the distractions that arise day to day.About three out of four Americans say that the pace of society today makes it harder for them to stay focused on their long-term financial goals, according to a study by Northwestern Mutual.

Just achieving financial security is becoming more of a challenge, much less saving for retirement. Yet financial matters are the top areas in life where Americans do set goals.

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the mortgage backing giants controlled by the federal government – have repeatedly increased lending standards for financial institutions in an attempt to stem losses from defaulted and foreclosed-upon properties. The problem is that this has served to stymie federal attempts to kickstart a housing industry that has flagged since the recession ended, even as demand has reached record highs, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

“The government is working at cross-purposes,” Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at Washington-based libertarian policy-research center the Cato Institute, told the news agency. “There’

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Today on Talk Credit Radio: Friday, July 8, 2011

Across the country, many older Americans are struggling with low rates of return on traditional savings accounts and CDs that make it difficult to pay their bills without draining their retirement savings. For some, an annuity would make it possible to turn those savings into a lifetime income stream. Annuities were even recommended in a report by the Obama administration’s Middle Class Task Force. They are not without controversy, though. H

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